delusion of the fury

I had the pleasure of witnessing a performance on some of the Harry Partch instruments at the Japan Society in New York. Harry Partch was a strange musical genius who claimed to be "not an instrument-builder, but a philosophic music-man seduced into carpentry." In any case, frustrated by the artificiality of Western musical scale, he invented his own 43-tone scale, notation system and instrumentation. His instruments and compositions were influenced by many years spent riding the rails as a hobo during and after the depression of the 1930s. He spent his later years living in the desert and building instruments.

Left: Mazda Marimba [made up sawed-off light bulbs]; Right: Zymo-xyl.

I cannot imagine how a musician could have more fun than in playing these instruments! Nor can I imagine a performance more pleasurable to watch. There were giant marimbas that the players had to climb up on. The Bass Marimba was made of organ pipes (Marimba Eroica, see first picture in the top left), the Marimba Eroica was played with mallets that looked like giant marshmallows.

Foreground: Eucal Blossom; Background: Cloud Chamber Bowls.

It would be hard to say which one I would want to play, but I am leaning toward the Cloud Chamber Bowls--which were originally made from bowls "found at the Radiation Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley, [which] had been used as cloud-chambers to trace the paths of sub-atomic particles." [harrypartch.com]

Notes on the piece:
"Delusion of the Fury---A Ritual of Dream and Delusion (1965-66) --- 2 acts performed without a break
Act I based on an 11th century Japanese story---historical, legendary & intensely serious
Act II based on an African folk tale---highly farcical
The cast (3 principals):
Tenor-baritone: The Slayer, in Act I
The Young Vagabond, in Act II---the same person
Soprano: The Son, in Act I
The Old Goat Woman, in Act II---the same person
Bass: The Slain as a Ghost, in Act I
The Justice of the Peace, in Act II---the same person
Numerous dancers/mime actors
Instrumental ensemble: adapted guitar, 2 chromelodeons, 2 kithars, surrogate kithara,
5 harmonic canons, bloboy, koto, crychord,diamond marimba, quadrangularis reversum,
bass marimba, marimba eroica, boo, eucal blossom, gourd tree, cone gongs, cloud
chamber bowls, spoils of war, zymo-xyl, mazda marimba, ugumbo, waving drums, Bolivian
double flute, mbira, ektara, rotating drum, belly drums, gourd drum, 6 bamboo claves,
4 eucalyptus claves & rhythm boat"